Here I Am

Dear Molly,
Wow. You're a senior. How the heck did that happen? 17. Seriously? Kindergarten at Emerson was 13 years ago. Yikes.

Also, fighting tooth and nail, you're back at Poly. Rock the Green and Gold. Not in PACE, but 4 AP classes suit you just fine. It's a tough schedule. AP English Literature, AP Biology, AP Music Theory, AP Spanish Language, Finite Math, and Orchestra. Thank goodness for an orchestra class that doesn't put you to sleep. (True. Falling asleep on a cello is no simple task, but something you managed to do at Millikan.)

You've applied to colleges, and are forced to think about the future. But thinking about the future forces you to remember the past. How far you've come. From a smiley little kid, to a successful student, to a miserable ball of sadness and even despair. To a teenager with a bright future ahead of her. A person who was a victim of awful circumstances who somehow managed to triumph over them.

So here you are. Alive and ready to conquer whatever challenges are in your way.

Love, Molly

Song of the Day: "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield. As cheesy as it is, it's true.

"Unwritten"

I am unwritten, can't read my mind, I'm undefined
I'm just beginning, the pen's in my hand, ending unplanned

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

Oh, oh, oh

I break tradition, sometimes my tries, are outside the lines
We've been conditioned to not make mistakes, but I can't live that way

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten

Oh, yeah, yeah

Surviving and Thriving

Dear Molly,

       So. Junior year came to a close. And you've made it. At the very least, you survived. Well, kind of, sort of, maybe. Perhaps. And it was a rough year. You don't recommend trying to go back to a school with people you haven't seen in years.

      Overall, the year was sort of blah. Bleh. Meh. You muddled through Millikan, while encountering a cast of characters, which is to be expected. Some that you liked. Some that you didn't. A few people stick out in your mind, for various reasons. Looking back, you'll probably remember some truly good moments of people who went out of their way to be nice. But not many. Your teachers were good for the most part. Your grades left something to be desired.

       There's plenty of blah to mention.

       But the most important part of this year was self discovery. Too much of it to appropriately mention here.

       Moving on to senior year and college scares the sh*t out of you at the moment. You're on your way. You don't know where you're going. You're on your way. You're taking your time but you don't know where.(Thanks Paul Simon. Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard is a great song on a number of levels.) Anyway, like you said in the beginning of this blog, you're on a journey, a journey to thrive. And it ain't stopping anytime soon.

Song of The (Day,Week, Month, Year)

      This is a fight song. Notice the changes in words from "banging on his door" to "banging on this door". In NFTY this year, you learned quite a bit more about spirituality. To you, "God" has always been less of a person and more of an entity.

      This song just speaks to you on a number of levels, rap part included.

Love, Molly

"Hall Of Fame" by The Script
(feat. Will.I.Am)

Yeah, you can be the greatest
You can be the best
You can be the King Kong banging on your chest

You can beat the world
You can beat the war
You can talk to God, go banging on this door

You can throw your hands up
You can beat the clock (yeah)
You can move a mountain
You can break rocks
You can be a master
Don't wait for luck
Dedicate yourself and you gon' find yourself

Standing in the hall of fame (yeah)
And the world's gonna know your name (yeah)
'Cause you burn with the brightest flame (yeah)
And the world's gonna know your name (yeah)
And you'll be on the walls of the hall of fame

You can go the distance
You can run the mile
You can walk straight through hell with a smile

You can be the hero
You can get the gold
Breaking all the records they thought never could be broke

Yeah, do it for your people
Do it for your pride
How are you ever gonna know if you never even try?

Do it for your country
Do it for your name
'Cause there's gonna be a day...

When you're standing in the hall of fame (yeah)
And the world's gonna know your name (yeah)
'Cause you burn with the brightest flame (yeah)
And the world's gonna know your name (yeah)
And you'll be on the walls of the hall of fame

Be a champion, be a champion, be a champion, be a champion
On the walls of the hall of fame

Be students
Be teachers
Be politicians
Be preachers
(Yeah)

Be believers
Be leaders
Be astronauts
Be champions
Be truth seekers

Be students
Be teachers
Be politicians
Be preachers

Be believers
Be leaders
Be astronauts
Be champions

Standing in the hall of fame (yeah, yeah, yeah)
And the world's gonna know your name (yeah, yeah, yeah)
'Cause you burn with the brightest flame (yeah, yeah, yeah)
And the world's gonna know your name (yeah, yeah, yeah)
And you'll be on the walls of the hall of fame

(Be a champion)
You could be the greatest
(Be a champion)
You can be the best
(Be a champion)
You can be the King Kong banging on your chest

(Be a champion)
You could beat the world
(Be a champion)
You could beat the war
(Be a champion)
You could talk to God, go banging on this door

(Be a champion)
You can throw your hands up
(Be a champion)
You can beat the clock (yeah)
(Be a champion)
You can move a mountain
(Be a champion)
You can break rocks

(Be a champion)
You can be a master
(Be a champion)
Don't wait for luck
(Be a champion)
Dedicate yourself and you gonna find yourself
(Be a champion)

Standing in the hall of fame